Whats the difference between Botox® and Dermal Fillers?
There are 2 main differences between these two types of treatments.
The first is what problems they can solve. Botox® works on motion lines. These are fine lines or wrinkles that occur on movement or contraction of the muscle. Botox® relaxes the muscle by stopping the nerve sending a signal to the muscle to contract.
Patients will fall into one of four groups.
Group 1 – no lines at rest and no lines upon muscle contraction. This group are too early for Botox®, as there is no muscle involvement.
Group 2 – no lines at rest, but lines appear upon muscle contraction. These are the best group to treat because the lines are caused by the muscles only.
Group 3 – some lines at rest and upon muscle contraction these lines worsen and/or new lines appear. We can still treat this group with Botox® as there is some muscle involvement, but we would not be able to guarantee to eliminate those lines at rest.
Group 4 – some lines at rest and upon muscle contraction nothing happens to these lines. These patients are too late for Botox® as there is no muscle involvement.
Whereas Dermal Fillers work on stain lines or folds. These lines/folds are not caused by muscle contraction but due to loss of volume in the skin. Dermal Fillers plump up the skin and restore loss of volume. However they do not lift. This is an important point, where if you have lose/saggy skin and you require lifting, Dermal Fillers would not be your treatment of choice.
Bradley speaking, Botox® is normally used for the upper third of the face and Dermal Fillers for the lower third of the face.
The second major difference is the onset of action and reversal.
Botox® has a delayed onset of action and you would not see the optimal result until two weeks. After the Botox® procedure, you will feel your skin tighten in 3/4 days and then over a period of 14 days see the effects.
In addition, Botox® cannot be reversed. Therefore it is imperative that you are baby stepped and not over dosed. We can add to the botox but we cannot take it away!
In regard to Dermal Fillers you can see the result immediately and you can reverse the effects. 80% of the effects of Dermal Fillers will be instant, in addition most Dermal Fillers attract water, so in the course of the next 10-14 days, the area will be re hydrated causing the skin to plump, hence the remaining 20% of the result is seen at this time.
Most of the Dermal Fillers we use are reversible. If we have over filled or the patient doesn’t like the look, we can reverse the effects and start again.
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